While we wish we could go back to the days of using the same password for everything and sharing it company-wide, IT departments know that sharing across the office the name of your first pet, maiden name, or childhood street address is not the most secure option for guarding sensitive company information or protecting personal accounts for that matter. This is especially true for administrative roles. While leadership may push to use the same password for their personal bank account and company administrative entry, once access is shared, these ‘secret’ names and phrases become common knowledge, endangering the company and the individual, luckily, another option exists. 

Elevated Access, also known as Privilege Access, is the act of allowing certain entities administrative entry. Users with these permissions can do more within their organization and the programs it implements, keeping access customizable and secure.  

Privileged access even allows leadership to temporarily grant elevated access to employees with limited entry so they can complete projects that require higher permissions. While helpful, the key to utilizing these creative controls securely includes not giving everyone access to the skeleton key and implementing and managing these elevated access identities to prevent new doors to security breaches. With this said, is Elevated Access Management worth the trouble?

Why Use Elevated Access Management

According to a Centrify and Dow Jones Customer Intelligence study, 81% of all breaches exploit identity. This extremely high statistic means most breaches are preventable with elevated access management. Protecting your company with elevated access management helps organizations prevent exploitable gaps in their cybersecurity, cutting out another attack surface targeted by cyber threat actors. Elevated Access Management makes a substantial difference in elevating companies’ security posture, which is why most cyber risk insurance companies now require insured companies to use managed access controls. 

While there isn’t a security standard for cyber insurance, most companies seeking insurance can lower their premium by implementing access control. Insurance companies love the controls because of their trial-tested ability to lower organizations’ risk of succumbing to cyberattacks, reducing the need to cash in on insurance. Elevated access is imperative to access control because it protects the most sensitive data that is often only accessible by select personnel and reduces password sharing. 

Other benefits of Elevated Access Management include:

  • Improved Visibility: Centralized monitoring of privileged access activities allows security teams to identify suspicious behavior and potential security threats in real-time. 
  • Compliance with Regulations: Ensuring only authorized users have access to critical data helps organizations meet compliance requirements for data protection and privacy regulations. 
  • Prevent Privilege Abuse: By implementing the “least privilege” principle, users only receive the necessary access level for their tasks, reducing the chance of accidental or malicious misuse of elevated privileges. 
  • Simplified Access Management: A centralized platform for managing privileged accounts simplifies the granting, revoking and auditing access to critical systems processes. 
  • Enhanced Incident Response: With clear visibility into user activity, security teams can quickly identify and contain security incidents involving privileged accounts. 
  • Improved Operational Efficiency: By automating password management and access controls, administrators can spend less time on manual tasks and focus on more strategic security initiatives. 
  • Third-Party Access Control: Securely manage access for external vendors or service providers who require elevated permissions to perform specific tasks. 

How to Implement and Manage Elevated Access 

Implementing and managing elevated access requires a blend of best practices and strategic oversight. Start by applying the principle of least privilege, limiting user permissions to only those necessary for their role. Next, identify privileged accounts and assign a dedicated PAM (privileged access management) leader to manage tools, policies and regular reviews. During this phase, a ‘pro’ tip for enhanced security is adding password vaulting to avoid insecure practices like password sharing or storing credentials improperly.

Elevating access management is only effective when properly monitored and tracked. Begin the next phase by logging all privileged activity to maintain transparency and accountability and establish governance around privileged access by defining roles, policies and workflows for access requests, approvals and usage. The other option is shared accounts. If taking this route, IT must closely monitor interactions to catch unusual or unauthorized use. Auditing privileged sessions in real time helps detect suspicious activity.

Consider implementing just-in-time privilege elevation, which grants temporary permissions only when users need them, reducing exposure to excessive access. Automating privilege management processes also helps minimize errors and improve efficiency. With so many options and steps to consider it’s best to start with a managing elevated access best practices briefing to bring decision-makers together, align priorities and map a strategy that best supports your organization’s goals.

Using Verinext to Help Manage Your Elevated Access 

Properly implementing Elevated Access takes time, organization and skill. If you need help managing elevated access, Verinext can help. We offer comprehensive security and risk management services, including end-to-end security with proven security strategies that help protect critical systems and identify and close security gaps. Contact us to learn more about how our products and services can help you secure your company.